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Round your fingers, that may help.
Tension is something young players fall into, I think, because they can feel it, and it creates a sense of security. It is not real security. One must develop clear distinction between tension and relaxation, and my guess is that the original poster has too extreme of an arm position. It should not be difficult to practice two hours or more. Raising the elbows too high will cause tension in the shoulders and neck. The method says something like parallel to the floor, but it is a generalization, not a specific unalterable position. The most important thing is freedom of movement.
You are already looking at graduate schools? It seems like last year you started at Peabody. You definitely want to audition with what you know best. Which schools are you considering?
I do use it where placing would be buzzy, but I prefer placing, in general. I also using partial placing, where you would place the first two notes and as you play the first note, pivot and place the next two.
Noel Gallon’s Fantaisie is published as a Morceau imposee au Concours, but it doesn’t give the year. His Deux Etudes give the year 1961 (pub. by Philippo et Combre).
There are numerous published methods for the harp. Pedagogy comes from the teachers you study with, and help define one’s school of playing. It sounds like you need to continue your studies at the graduate level. Harp pedagogy is not so codified as piano pedagogy.
The first modern performance was given by Kathy Kienzle, harp, and Romuald Tecco, violin, with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. I don’t know where they got the music, but it was performed over the objections of the publisher, Don Henry, who I believe was reserving the premiere for Mildonian and Ricci. So they very likely may have found original music to use.
If you want good harps for your children, please go to dealers and buy new or used harps in good condition. Antique harps are a curiosity, and pretty, but they are not suitable for modern use. Your children deserve the best possible instrument. It’s okay for a starter, but plan to move on.
The Harp Society already has a Grandjany Fund, I am pretty sure, just like the Salzedo Fund, and so, this is already covered by them. I never heard of Grandjany claiming to have a particular method other than that of Renie, and it is more of a reaction to the Salzedo method by Grandjany pupils to call it that. Some of his students copied exactly how he played, others did not. A method implies a coherent, complete approach to training, and many published methods are not that. Another might just be confusing. And the fact that he cannot approve of its contents is important. We certainly could not write a new Salzedo method at this point, but rest content to use the one we have and move forward from there. And we all need to move forward from strong foundations. What is most important is any interpretive insights he gave into his own pieces, and approach to music-making, which I have not read.
Where did you get the idea degrees in music are not a requirement? You won’t be taken seriously at all, get a chance to audition, if you don’t go to serious, major music schools and the best teachers. An orchestra job is hard to get. It is possible to get local, freelance jobs in more than once group sometimes, but you have to be a well-rounded, well-trained musician to do well. Just being able to play the harp is not nearly enough. I can recommend schools if you like.
You need speed in this piece, so I don’t think sequential placing will help as it might in other places. I don’t know which place that is, offhand, but in general, if you press your knuckles against the lower strings as you place, it will muffle any vibrations. In a pinch, you can straighten your knuckles instead, but curving them more is better.
Very informed, you are. I mentioned the Hamburg Steinways because they are darker. The Bosendorfer is much darker and very plush with a soft attack. That’s why it is loved for Viennese music. As for the tuning, my teacher advocated the same stretching for the harp.
I bought a baby grand to facilitate rehearsing for performance, and to have the space underneath for storing stuff like harp covers.
Piazzolla is very tricky to do well on the harp. It tends to have a repetitious bass line, and textures much more suited to the piano. You should take liberties if you’re going to arrange it. But also bear in mind when programming that this is not truly classical music. It is light classical or serious popular music, so don’t make more of it than it is. For what it is, it is wonderful.
A little chocolate before you play may be helpful. The Real Rescue Remedy is being well-prepared. Try to be able to play with your eyes closed, or in the dark, with one shoe off, anything else you can think of that could go wrong.
